Beginning February 6, Ash Wednesday, you are invited to begin a Lenten discipline using a daily devotional posting from the devotional booklet "What Shall We Call Him?". The devotions are based on the gospel of Mark and are organized around the various names of Jesus in the book. Opportunities for reflectionare are included in each posting. If you wish to engage in a dialogue you may add your comments.
Below is the introduction to the work.
Introduction
Mark’s gospel probably was the earliest of the written stories of the life of Jesus. We tend to think of life stories as biographies detailing the significant features of a person’s life; we expect them to be completely factual in character and to be about “famous” people of our time. Most of the time we eschew biographies that are obviously designed to champion the particular person or his cause. We want impartial reporting. Mark’s gospel is none of these. Jesus while known when the story was written was not famous. Mark clearly states his purpose in the opening lines—this is the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And like any good storyteller who wishes to influence his audience, factualness takes a back seat to truth. Mark wishes us to meet the Jesus known in the first century CE and known in the twenty-first century CE. This Lenten study invites you to that experience.
As you read Mark’s gospel (and you are encouraged to do that during this season) you may find that Jesus is called by many different names and titles. Each seems to give us a different picture of who he is and was. Each is open to expanding our experience of him. Each can awaken in us visions of who and how he is a part of the world in which we live. The first five weeks of Lent in this devotional are devoted to thinking and meeting Jesus as he is named in Mark. Thoughts on the name begin the week and the idea grows as we imagine, ponder, and relate to Jesus so called. Scripture, mediations, pictures, questions and prayer guide and challenge. Holy Week looks daily at the different names by which Jesus is known as he walks from the triumphal entry to cross and grave.
Purposeful study, reflection, and prayer are important disciplines for Christians walking through the forty days of Lent. As we come to know Jesus more fully, more personally, more communally, we prepare to rejoice anew with the good news of Easter morn, the good news Mark invites us to know, the good news of Jesus Christ Son of God. These meditations are to help you on this walk.
May God bless your journey.
1/30/08
THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY
Thursday--Promises
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’ Mark 1:3b
Yesterday we began the “forty days” of Lent. This season of the church year is variously observed. For some early Christians it was a time of preparation for membership in the community. Study of the life of Jesus and the doctrines of the church occupied these converts’ time as they awaited initiation into the community. For some Lent is a time of penitence. As the church prepares to celebrate the life changing events of our Lord’s death and resurrection some set aside special times for reflection and sacrifice. In either case the gospel of Mark offers a valuable resource. Understanding who Jesus was and is was the purpose of the gospel writer. That same understanding is that for which new converts and life long followers of Jesus seek. The Lenten season beckons this work, this study, this journey. As John the Baptizer quoted the prophet Isaiah, it is time to prepare. It is time to make the way clear, the paths straight.
What disciplines will you promise for this season?
How will you observe Lent? How will you seek your Lord? How will you make this journey?
Lord Jesus, we begin today our journey. We would prepare your way. We would know you in a new and deeper sense. We would be faithful followers. We ask your presence, your blessing. Amen
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’ Mark 1:3b
Yesterday we began the “forty days” of Lent. This season of the church year is variously observed. For some early Christians it was a time of preparation for membership in the community. Study of the life of Jesus and the doctrines of the church occupied these converts’ time as they awaited initiation into the community. For some Lent is a time of penitence. As the church prepares to celebrate the life changing events of our Lord’s death and resurrection some set aside special times for reflection and sacrifice. In either case the gospel of Mark offers a valuable resource. Understanding who Jesus was and is was the purpose of the gospel writer. That same understanding is that for which new converts and life long followers of Jesus seek. The Lenten season beckons this work, this study, this journey. As John the Baptizer quoted the prophet Isaiah, it is time to prepare. It is time to make the way clear, the paths straight.
What disciplines will you promise for this season?
How will you observe Lent? How will you seek your Lord? How will you make this journey?
Lord Jesus, we begin today our journey. We would prepare your way. We would know you in a new and deeper sense. We would be faithful followers. We ask your presence, your blessing. Amen
Ash Wednesday--Names
The beginning of the good news
of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.[1] Mark 1:1
With these words Mark begins his account of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, a story he believes will convince you, his reader, that Jesus is God’s son and source of human salvation. This for him, and thus for you, is good news. By retelling the stories preached by early followers, the writer of this gospel hopes to lead you to the truth, to the name of Jesus that reveals his true identity. Knowing such you then too can be one who participates in the good news
Mark begins by naming Jesus—he is the Christ, the Son of God. Later gospel writers began their accounts differently but for Mark what Jesus is called tells us who he is. Names are important for us too. They identify us; they connect us with others of the same name; they tell of our work or at least they did in the past; they put us in a place and time. Some would say they influence our very being, name our soul and spirit.
Think about your own name for a bit.
What names are you called? What is your “given” name? Does your name tell of your or your ancestors’ occupation, your ethnicity, your birth position, or some way to distinguish you from others in your family? How has your name effected who you are?
Mark invites us to listen, discern, and call Jesus by name for that is how we will know him.
The beginning of the good news
of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.[1] Mark 1:1
With these words Mark begins his account of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, a story he believes will convince you, his reader, that Jesus is God’s son and source of human salvation. This for him, and thus for you, is good news. By retelling the stories preached by early followers, the writer of this gospel hopes to lead you to the truth, to the name of Jesus that reveals his true identity. Knowing such you then too can be one who participates in the good news
Mark begins by naming Jesus—he is the Christ, the Son of God. Later gospel writers began their accounts differently but for Mark what Jesus is called tells us who he is. Names are important for us too. They identify us; they connect us with others of the same name; they tell of our work or at least they did in the past; they put us in a place and time. Some would say they influence our very being, name our soul and spirit.
Think about your own name for a bit.
What names are you called? What is your “given” name? Does your name tell of your or your ancestors’ occupation, your ethnicity, your birth position, or some way to distinguish you from others in your family? How has your name effected who you are?
Mark invites us to listen, discern, and call Jesus by name for that is how we will know him.
Loving God, you call us by name. You know us for who we are. We ask your presence during this season of Lent. We are in need of your forgiving grace. We ask that you help us know Jesus by name. Amen.
[1] All quotations from New Revised Standard Version
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